Book binding



Oct. 2, 1934:. J I J. w. BALLARD 1,975,528

7 Filed Nov. 23 1953 Fig.1

Fig.2 A V lNVENTOR atented Got. 2 1934 ook BINDING Joseph William Ballard, Greenfield, Mass, as-

signor to The Kendall Company, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application November 23, 1933, Serial No.'699,389

8 Claims. (01. sci-2s) in to as the book) while the opposite margins of the super are overlapped upon and glued to the inner margins of the covers. Usually a super consists simply of an openly woven fabric, such as unbleached starched cheese cloth. The mar- 1 gins of the super are concealed by the lining sheets for the coverwhich are glued or cemented over them and which thus serve to give added strength to the union between the super and the covers.

The present invention aims to improve the binding of books with a view to producing a better union of the super to the other elements of the book;

The nature of the invention will be readily 5 understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a book embodying features of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional View, on a greatly enlarged scale, showingthe structure of a typical super and illustrating a step in the preparation of the super according to this invention; and

Fig. 3 is a vertical, sectional View illustrating, on an enlarged scale, a further step in the preparation of the super.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the book there shown comprises a group of signatures or leaves 2, two covers 4-4, a super 6 for securing the signatures to the covers, and a cover lining 8. In a typical construction each cover is made of heavy board, such as cardboard, coveredwith some suitable sheet material such as cloth or leather. 7

As above stated, the superordinarily consists of an open mesh fabric, such as cheese cloth, the thread count varying substantially, but usually being somewhere between 24 x 20 and 32 X 28. The warp and filling sizes ordinarily are about the same. A cotton thread or yarn customarily is used, and in an ordinary light or medium super the warp very likely would be s, or thereabouts, and the fillings approximately s, while in heavier supers the warps and fillings might be in the neighborhood of No. 17 or No; 18 thread. These goods are sold on a highly competitive basis, and accordingly they are made cheaply from rather inexpensive thread which usually has neps, or small bunches of fiber, producingthickened places or imperfections in the woven fabric, such as those indicated at 10 in Fig. 1.

With a view to producing a smoother surfaced super, and flattening the neps and bunches 10 down to substantially the'saine thickness as the main body of the fabric, I have compressed the super 6 either between the fiat plates of a reciprocating press or by running the fabric between heavy steel rolls rotating at the same surface speeds. This reduces the fabric to a substantially uniform thickness throughout. Moreover, I have found that when a super so prepared is incorporated in a book, it produces not only the contemplated effect of making a smoother and better looking overlap, but that additional and more important eifects are produced. Among these may be mentioned first the fact that a substantially stronger union is made between the super and both the book and the covers. Investigation of the reasons for this improved result indicate that. it is due partly to the fact that the glued or cemented joint between the super and the covers and the cover liner is reduced materially in thickness as compared to the dimensions of the joint ordinarily made, and more especially to the fact that the threads of the super at their intersections areso flattened that the area of contact between the super and both the covers, and the backs of the signatures, is greatly increased. 7

With these considerations in mind, I have found that the increase in strength can be made even more pronounced by making the super from a more lightly twisted thread than that commonly used in the manufacture of cheese cloth supers and similar fabrics. Soft twists, such as those used in absorbent gauzes, seem to be about right. The effect of compressing such a super is illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. The former figure shows, on a very' large scale, .a sec.- tion of the super 6 resting on the platen 12 of a press, the upper plate of the press being-shown at 14. This super is in its natural state and its overall thickness is equal to at least the sum of the diameters of a warp and filling thread. Actually the extreme or maximum thickness is greater than this because of the presence of the neps or bunches 10, Fig. 1. If now such a fabric is subjected to a considerable degree of pressure, say, for example, four hundred or five hundred pounds to a square foot, the fabric is compressed and flattened into somewhat the condition illustrated in Fig. 3. Most of the compression of the goods occurs at the intersections or crossings of the warp and filling threads, and at the neps or bunches 10. It is preferable, also, to perform this pressing or squeezing operation on the goods after they have been starched and the starched coating has dried. Such a compressing step has the effect of reducing the entire compressed area to a substantially uniform thickness and so flattening out the intersections and other points of maximum thickness of the goods that this dimension is made considerably smaller. The overall thickness instead or" being the sum of the diameters of a warp and filling thread when such threads are in their normal or uncompressed condition, is now considerably less than that sum. In addition, this compression flattens out the threads, reduces the areas of the openings between adjacent threads, and therefore increases the contact area of the glue with the fabric.

The increase in strength so obtained may be utilized either to make a binding having the same strength as the common constructions but at a reduced cost, or to obtain greater strength for a given expenditure. In addition to these advantages there appears to be also a reduced elastic strain in the super when the covers are flexed apparently due to the lessened thickness of the fabric.

A further and very important result of this construction is a substantial saving in the quantity of glue required. This has been found by experience to be the fact in using these supers in book binderies. And the saving runs into substantial proportions. Apparently this is due, at least chiefly, to the reduction in overall thickness of the'glued joint so that the menisci formed by the glue at the lines of contact of the threads of the super with the cover and the cover lining are smaller. The fact that the area of the openings in the fabric is reduced may also be responsible in some measure for this result. l/Vhatever may be the cause, however, it has been definitely determined by careful tests that a substantial saving in glue is realized. Since this saving may, if desired, be accompanied by an increase in strength of the binding, it represents an important advance in this art.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

'1. A book comprising a pair of covers, a group of signatures, and a woven super of substantially uniform thickness throughout cemented to and securing said signatures to said covers, the super being characterized by the fact that it has been compressed and flattened to such a degree that its overall thickness is substantially reduced and the thickness of the cemented joint is correspondingly lessened but the area of fiat contact of the cement with the threads of the super is materially increased.

2. A book comprising a pair of covers, a group of signatures, and a woven super of substantially uniform thickness throughout cemented to and securing said signatures to said covers, the super being characterized by the fact that it has been compressed and flattened to such a degree that its overall thickness is substantially less than the sum of the diameters of the warp and filling threads in the normal or uncompressed condition of said threads.

3. A book comprising a pair of covers, a group of signatures, and a woven super of substantially uniform thickness throughout cemented to and securing said signatures to said covers, the super being characterized by the fact that the intersections of the threads thereof are flattened and compressed to such a degree that the area of the openings between adjacent threads is substantially reduced as compared to a normal fabric of the same weave, number of threads, and thread size.

4. A book comprising a pair of covers, a group of signatures, and a woven super of substantially uniform thickness throughout cemented to and securing said signatures to said covers, the super being characterized by the fact that the fabric has been compressed to such a degree that the threads are flattened at their intersections sufficiently to substantially increase the width of said threads in the plane of the goods, and the overall thickness of the goods and the sizes of the open areas between adjacent threads have been materially reduced.

5. A book comprising a pair of covers, a group of signatures, and a woven super of substantially uniform thickness throughout cemented to and securing said signatures to said covers, the super being characterized by the fact that it has been compressed and the threads thereof flattened at their intersections and the surface irregularities practically eliminated, said super having a substantially constant thickness throughout its area.

6. A book comprising a pair of covers, a group of signatures, and a woven super of substantially uniform thickness throughout cemented to and securing said signatures to said covers, the super being characterized by the fact that it has been compressed and flattened to such a degree that the overall thickness of practically all of the threads at their intersections is substantially reduced and the thickness of the cemented joint is correspondingly lessened but the area of flat contact of the cement with the threads of the super is materially increased.

7. A book comprising a pair of covers, a group of signatures and a woven super of substantially uniform thickness throughout cemented to and securing said signatures to said covers, said super being compressed and flattened whereby the overall thickness' at the intersections of the threads is substantially reduced, the thickness of the cemented joint is correspondingly lessened and the area of fiat contact of the cement with the threads of the super is materially increased.

v 8. A super for books, composed of woven material of substantially uniform thickness throughout, compressed and fiattenedto such a degree that the overall thickness of the super is substantially reduced and the thickness of the joints of the warp and weft threads is correspondingly lessened.

JOSEPH WILLIAM BALLARD.

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